Socket



W. BRAATZ July 28, 1959 SOCKET Filed Aug. 20, 1956 INVENTOR W/LL/ BRAATZ ms ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 2,896,985 Patented July 28, 1959 SOCKET Willi Braatz, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Ingersoll-Rand Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application August 20, 1956, Serial No. 604,920 3 Claims. (Cl. 287-119) This invention relates to sockets, and more particularly to sockets of the type used with a tool for tightening nuts, bolts and the like.

These sockets generally come in various sizes to fit various standard size bolts, each socket being adapted to fit the same tool for rotating the socket. Such sockets are normally provided with some sort of opening through the body of the socket to receive a detent on the rotating tool for holding the socket on the tool. Such openings are additionally used as access holes for releasing the detent.

It is one object of this invention to eliminate forming a hole through the body of the socket used in connection with a detent on the socket or socket rotating tool.

Another object is to provide a socket having a novel groove arrangement in its inner periphery for cooperation with a detent on the socket rotating tool.

Further objects will become obvious from the following specification and drawings, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the socket embodying a preferred form of the invention,

Figs. 2 and 3 are cross sectional views of Fig. 1 taken along the lines 22 and 33, respectively, the direction of the arrows, and

Fig. 4 is a paritally sectional view of the socket shown in Fig. 1 and in which is located the end of a rotating tool provided with a detent for retaining the socket therelooking in Referring to the drawings, the socket element is shown as comprising a tubular member 10 provided with a nut receiving socket at one end and a tool receiving socket at the opposite end. The nut receiving socket is formed by a plurality of surfaces 12 arranged around the inner periphery of one end portion of the socket to form a polygonal opening for receiving the head of a bolt or a nut or similar work piece.

The tool receiving socket is formed by four surfaces 14 arranged at right angles to form a square for receiving the square end of a rotating tool part, such as the part 16 shown in Fig. 4.

In order that the socket may be retained on the part 16, a groove 18 is formed in each of the surfaces 14, each groove terminating at a point short of the outer end of such surface. These grooves are shown as being triangular in cross section and the outer end surface 20 of each groove is in the form of a triangle inclined from the bottom of the groove 18 outwardly toward the outer end of the associated surface 18. Such a groove 18 is provided in each of the surfaces 14 so that the tool 16 may be inserted in any one of its four possible positions in the socket and the spring-pressed ball detent 22 will be engaged in the groove 18. More particularly, the ball extends into the groove and abuts the end surface 20 to prevent withdrawal of the part 16 from the socket without applying suflicient force to cam the ball inwardly against the pressure of the spring 23.

It is to be noted that with this imperforate socket construction the wall of the socket element is solidi.e., without any openings therethrough. This socket construction may be formed, as by swaging, and in furtherance to this end it is to be noted that the maximum diameter of the bore of the tubular member increases in moving from right to left in Fig. 1. Accordingly the depth of the grooves 18 are chosen such that the bottoms of the grooves preferably coincide with the surface of the intermediate circular surface 24 positioned between the two end sockets. If desired, depth of the grooves can be less than shown such that the bottoms of the grooves lie on a diameter less than the diameter of the surface 24.

I claim:

1. A socket element to be rotated by a rotatable member having a detent, comprising a tubular member having a socket formed at one end portion thereof adapted to receive a fastener and having an opening at the opposite end portion thereof adapted to receive the rotatable member, said opening being defined by flat surfaces formed in the inner periphery of said tubular member, and a longitudinal groove formed in one of said surfaces adapted to receive the detent to releasably engage the rotatable member to the socket and terminating short of the end of the last said portion to efiect such engagement, said rotatable member being removable from said element by only relative longitudinal movement therebetween.

2. The socket element claimed in claim 1 in which the Wall of said tubular member is imperforate.

3. The socket element claimed in claim 1 in which said groove is parallel to the axis of the socket and its outer end terminates in a surface inclined from the bottom of the groove outwardly toward the outer end of the grooved surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

